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ELEMENTS OF POETRY IN THE MAHĀBHĀRATA : by Ram
Karan Sharma ; Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1983. Pp. 179, Price : Rs. 125/
In this book the author presents a classification of the vairous figures of speech collected from the critically edited text of the three parvans of the Mahābhārata (Mbh): Ādi, Vana (but 'Aranyaka' according to the cr, edn. ) and Bhisma. As the author states the book is “not a rhetorical discussion of the soul of the poetry of the Mahabharata. It rather aims at enumerat. ing the symbolic, alliterative, paronomastic, or repetitive linguisic features that beautify the body of the Mahabharata." (p. 1) Yet the author chooses to use the words elements of poetry in the title of the book, and not just
poetic embellishments', apparently because he believes what Jayadeva (Candraloka 1.8) has to say about poetry : "One who regards poetry as word ard n:eaning without alamkāra, why does he not regard fire as without beat?" (p. 8).
: The author has presented the account of the "poetic expressions of the corpus” (p. 1) as follows: Chapters 1-3 classify the arthālamkāras, Chapter 9 details the poetic idioms, and chapter 10 classifies the sabdalarkāras. In chapter 11 we have a useful discussion of repetition as a technique of oral poetry.
The book evinces the author's deep study of the alamkāraśāstra and his familiartiy with the classical Sanskrit literature. His detailed presentation of the figures of speech reveals the amazing variety of the objects used in the epic as upamānas. Students of Sanskrit poetry would eagerly await a similar treatment at the hands of the author for the remaining parvans of the Mbh.
On p. 7 the author says that Vyasa taught Bhārata to his five pupils. Strictly speaking, in this context, he should have said: 'to his son and four pupils (1.57. 74-75 and 1. 1. 63).
In a passage cited on p. 12 from the Citramimamsā (p. 6) the author renders the word bhumikā as costume' ( sailūși samprāptā citrabhūmikā. bhedan). The word is better rendered as 'rolc' or character' (sthitibhedan Comm. Sudhā, although Tativāloka has veşaparigrahāh).
MadhuVidya/693
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